Israeli allegations that an aid worker shot dead by its troops earlier this week was attempting to carry out a cross-border attack from Gaza are being examined by the international medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF confirmed that one of its Palestinian medical staff, Hani al-Majdalawi, was killed in an incident earlier this week.

Cogat, the Israeli organisation responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said al-Majdalawi tried to infiltrate Israel from Gaza, opened fire at soldiers and threw a bomb. Israeli troops shot and killed al-Majdalawi during the attack on Monday. The Israeli military has not said whether it is holding al-Majdalawi’s remains.

According to the statement, Cogat’s commander, Maj Gen Kamil Abu Rokon, said those who take “part in saving lives should assist in humanitarian activities in the Gaza Strip, and should not take part in terrorism”. Alva White, a spokeswoman for MSF, confirmed al-Majdalawi had worked for the organisation and that he was killed in Gaza on Monday. “MSF is working to verify and understand the circumstances regarding this extremely serious incident, and is not able to comment further at this stage,” the organisation said in a statement.(theguardian)…[+]

Donald Trump has hit back at his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, after Sessions issued an unusual public rebuke to the US president. In the latest outbreak of hostility between the two, Trump, who is increasingly embattled after being accused of criminal behaviour as part of a guilty plea by his former lawyer Michael Cohen this week – tweeted that Sessions should investigate alleged “corruption” by his political enemies.

“Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!” the president wrote. In a Fox News interview broadcast on Thursday, Trump said: “I put in an attorney general who never took control of the justice department.”

But Sessions issued a statement defending the integrity of his department. “I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in,” he said. “While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.”(theguardian)…[+]

The EU has hit back at a threat by Italy’s populist government to halt its budget payments to Brussels amid a row over a migrant rescue ship, as Italian prosecutors travel to Rome to question the far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini about the illegal detention of the migrants onboard.

The investigation, conducted by the prosecutor of the Sicilian city of Agrigento, was launched against “unknowns” but it is clear that if the magistrates were to go ahead with a judicial proceeding, Salvini, who is not being investigated at the moment, would end up under investigation, being responsible for the landing ban, sources said.

Italy is facing a violation of the article 5 of the European convention on human rights. Under its terms, asylum seekers detained for more than 48 hours should be immediately released and should be given the opportunity to apply for a refugee status. On Thursday, the Italian deputy prime minister threatened to suspend his country’s financial contribution to the EU if Brussels did not intervene and redistribute the 150 refugees and migrantsonboard the coastguard ship Ubaldo Diciotti.(theguardian)…[+]